Those of you on our forums may have heard rumblings of all the trouble I’ve gone through to get this game. After several hours of phone calls and driving trips to the other side of the highway, I finally obtained a copy of the game and was able to spend some quality time with it.

The game’s story and voice acting are extremely cheesy, but this has come to be expected in Sonic games. The story is pretty much there to provide the game with level designs and to tie the game together. Now looking at the story’s cutscenes, I’ll warn you right now that the dialogue is so bad, you’ll want to skip ahead or risk ripping your ears out. But not only will the cutscenes provide a little story to give the game some coherence, but the visuals and comic animations are beautifully done, and are some of the best artwork I’ve seen during a Sonic game in a long time.

Right off the bat, playing through the first stage and its numerous side missions, you’ll realize right away that this game is FUN. Sonic and the Secret Rings has by far the most fun control system of all the 3D Sonic games I’ve played, and that says a lot seeing how I hold the two Sonic Adventure games in high regard. That’s not to say the control system is perfect, however. Clearly, having Sonic automatically run forward without having the ability to directly adjust his speed or anything other than his left, right, and jumping motions will not be as precise as having an analog stick. In addition, the motion sensing isn’t all that sensitive. For example, if I tilt hard left or right, I would hope Sonic would rush to that side. Or if I thrust the controller, I would hope Sonic does his homing attack as he is supposed to - so I don’t plummet into the water below. These scenarios aren’t always the case. However, I’m sure once this game speeds up significantly as I go on, this control system will prove easier to use and control at high speeds.

Be prepared to start the game with a number of quick tutorial missions, some necessary, some really useless. However, keep patient and you’ll blazing through real stages in no time. Each stage or area has several missions that take place in various areas of the same, gigantic stages, and are decently varied enough that you’ll be able to keep busy and still be able to enjoy yourself.

The game is definately promising. Despite lacking a “real” story, the Arabian Nights theme is something new and refreshing. The controls are easy to use and fun to play with. I’ll be finishing the game hopefully before this weekend, and I’ll be sure to share my full review with all of you.

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